1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of agriculture. More specifically, the invention comprises a device for lifting, transporting and unrolling rolls of sod.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rolls of sod are often difficult to handle due to their weight and the fact that they must be unrolled precisely so that the unrolled sod covers the ground completely without gaps. Unrolling rolls of sod requires the user to load, unload, move and unroll the sod rolls. Sod rolls can weigh a ton or more and are difficult to handle due to the fact that they are round and can roll away on a slope.
Currently, sod rollers are used to unroll cylinders of sod which contain a central void. A current sod roller, typically mounted to the front of a skid-steer, has two arms which can grasp each side of the central void. A roll of sod is typically only unrolled in one direction. Therefore if the roll of sod is picked up such that unrolling the sod would mean that the skid-steer would have to be driven backwards the user must place the sod back on the ground and pick the roll up again from the opposite side. Current sod rollers are unable to rotate and fully secure rolls of sod.
Rolls of sod are transported on a truck such that the center of each roll is accessible from the side of the truck. Currently, in order to unload the truck the round bales or sod rolls must be manually or mechanically removed from the truck and placed on the ground prior to picking the sod rolls up again with a sod roller.
Therefore what is needed is a roller which can easily and quickly pick up, secure, shift, rotate and unroll a roll of sod, or another cylindrical roll such as a round bale of hay. The present invention achieves this objective, as well as others that are explained in the following description.